Real deals

It would have been hard to find any signs of life around this abandoned Port Washington sandpit a decade ago, unless it was someone dumping trash.

The once-neglected 460-acre property on Hempstead Harbor had been a sand mine since the 1860s, supplying sand for the cement that built a lot of Manhattan. By the early 1990s all the sand was gone, replaced by debris.

But after a $42 million cleanup of old tires and rusted digging equipment, North Hempstead built the Harbor Links Golf Course, which opened in 1998 and turned an eyesore into a vibrant recreational spot.

Part of the town’s plan for reclaiming the area included a senior housing component built by Marriott, a grand idea that never got off the ground. Now Manhattan-based Amsterdam Nursing Home, which bought the property, is getting it done.

Construction could begin this summer on a $250 million senior living community on nine acres next to the Harbor Links course. The Amsterdam at Harborside is approaching the 70 percent state-mandated sales goal it needs to achieve before any building starts, according to Angie Cecil, a spokeswoman for the project developed by Texas-based Greystone Communities.

Sponsored by the Amsterdam House Continuing Care Retirement Community Inc. – a not-for-profit arm of Amsterdam Nursing Home – Harborside will have 226 independent living apartments and 106 units of enriched housing, special needs and skilled nursing suites. Residents will be guaranteed access to continuous care if needed for a monthly fee of about $2,500 to $3,200, in addition to a $400,000-plus entrance fee.

A new Route 58?

A spate of new retail development and proposals for more has prompted Suffolk County to order a “traffic mitigation study” for County Road 58 in Riverhead.

The CR58 study was planned after a recent meeting between federal, state, county and Riverhead Town officials. Along with local business owners, the officials discussed increased traffic to the North Fork.

Retail activity is brisk on CR58. Besides the Tanger Outlet Center and the Riverhead Centre, a Connecticut developer is now back with a plan for a 480,990 square-foot shopping center on the 41.5-acre former Hazeltine, first proposed in 2005.

The county wants to relieve traffic congestion at the Roanoke Avenue traffic circle, a primary bottleneck, without waiting for federal aid. Possibilities include a second lane for eastbound vehicles, something similar to the solution Suffolk engineers recently concocted in Southampton, easing Hamptons-bound traffic with the summer traffic cone program on County Road 39.

Real Deals

• Metro Door Inc., a leading supplier of security closures for retailers, has signed a long-term lease to move its headquarters to17,544 square feet at the Sunrise Business Center in Great River. Metro Door is currently located in about 8,000 square feet spread through two buildings in Hauppauge and plans to move later this summer.

Metro Door was represented by Ray Ruiz, Marianne Dugan and Joe Kondracke, all of CB Richard Ellis. Metropolitan Realty Associates LLC, which purchased the Long Island Business & Technology Center last year and renamed it the Sunrise Business Center, was represented by Bruce Nelson and Ryan Blaney, also of CBRE.

The 10-year lease represents the largest transaction at the 363,000-square-foot, three-building complex. Metropolitan Realty is renovating the property and converting a 136,000-square-foot former warehouse building into offices.

• Queens-based restaurant supplier Sam Tell and Son Inc. has just paid $6.3 million for a 75,000-square-foot industrial building in Farmingdale.

P&F Industries, a Melville producer of air-powered tools and hardware, sold the property at 300 Smith St., owned by Embassy Industries, one of P&F’s subsidiaries.

Executive Vice President David Pennetta and Richard Warren of Oxford & Simpson Realty in Jericho represented the seller. Brian Cleva of Cleva Philips Real Estate, also in Jericho, represented the buyer.

• Lake Success-based Lalezarian Properties just signed a 15-year lease with a single tenant for its newly acquired four-story office building at 1800 Northern Blvd. in Roslyn. Physicians Reciprocal Insurers, a subsidiary of Administrators For the Professionals, will occupy all 105,000 square feet of the Lalezarian building, moving from its current 56,000 square-foot headquarters in Manhasset.

Bill Yorio and Sam Rozzi of Corporate National Realty of Woodbury represented AFP in the deal. PRI’s new home is slated for a transformation to Class A space and the company plans its move Roslyn for next summer.